I'm a snooze button fan. Every morning, my alarm goes off and I hit snooze every 5 minutes. Sometimes I do that up to 45 minutes. It's crazy but it's what I do. Why even bother setting an alarm if you're just going to ignore it? One might ask, "why not just set the alarm for the time you are going to get up?" Good question. I don't know the answer to that one.

A few weeks ago, at church, we started a new series at church called "The Walking Dead". One of the key points from the message talked about how we just go through life hitting the snooze button instead of living life to it's fullest.

I began to think about all the times in my marriage and life that the alarm was going off and I just kept hitting the snooze button. "I'll deal with that later" or "I just can't deal with this right now" and keep snoozing. Maybe it's just a false alarm and I'll "monitor" the situation for a while, right?

Wake up, sleeper!

How differently would life be if we RESPONDEDto the alarms in our life rather than IGNORINGthem?

I've heard story after story from men whose wife had left them. They admit that they had been completely oblivious to the alarms that had been going off in their life. Reflecting back, they begin to piece together where they missed the alarm or were hitting the snooze button.

I saw a post on Facebook the other day from a person that thought the oil dipstick was broken in their car and needed to be replaced. They stated that it wasn't long enough to reach the oil anymore. It didn't take a few minutes for someone to enlighten them that there was nothing wrong with the dipstick, they just needed to add more oil to the car.

You would think that the check oil light (alarm) would have given this person a clue. However, some people just don't pay attention and keep snoozing until there is a problem that cannot be resolved.

Rarely ever, in marriage, do disasters happen to you where there was absolutely no warning that the impending doom was upon you. We just keep ignoring the signs. Our doctors tell us that we need to adjust our eating habits and exercise or we're going to have health issues and then we'll stop for pizza after we leave the doctor's office. Some years later, we end up on medication or worse and wonder "How did this happen to me?".

We really just need to WAKE UPand PAY ATTENTION!

Resolve within yourself to make a Change

Stephen Covey said, "You can't talk your way out of something that you behave your way into".

We have to alter the behavior that keeps us from dealing with the alarms in our life. We ignore the areas that we need to address in our lives and then attempt to talk our way out of them. It just doesn't work.

I'm entering a new journey in my life. I have some minor health issues. High blood pressure and high cholesterol have crept into my life because I have ignored the signs. In the coming weeks, I'll be working diligently to alter the behaviors that have brought me to this place. I have to retrain myself to stop hitting the snooze button at 5:00 A.M. so that I can get to the gym before work. That also means that I have to go to bed at a decent hour and say no to some things.

I have to accept the fact that fast-food needs to be replaced with healthier options. I have to ensure that I prepare my lunch in advance. It's a behavior problem. All behavior problems are learned and therefore can be unlearned with faithful commitment to change.

Ephesians 5:14 “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

This scripture has a new meaning in my life. I've been sleeping too long and it's time to wake up and allow Christ to shine on my life.